I’ve been on several ‘Community Mentoring’ visits now and the Hatfield group seems to get better and better each time (if this is possible?), and our relationships with the other country-groups reached new heights in Slovakia. This shows what can and could be achieved through collaborative working between folk from different nations, cultures and backgrounds.

A big thanks to Moreen, and I hope to see Ania and Harriet again sometime in the future

Harriett

Jumping on the bandwagon I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful few days. Like Alison I have come back with a massive smile on my face, and I am feeling so inspired and focused, so thank you.

It was strange eating a different meal last night, not too sure I enjoyed it as much!

George

What a lovely trip we had, the company was good and the conversations and discussions top quality. It has left me reflecting on many things which I shall take my time to reach what I hope will be good conclusions.

Finally a very big and sincere thank you to you all for the wonderful help and support that you gave to me.

______________________________________________Updated on 3rd March 2015_

Northern Ireland Kilcooley Women’s Centre has been working to deliver training and edycation to socially deprived participants from a poor economic background in Northern Ireland from the ceasefires in 1995. More photos are available from the link below.

Sivas Provincial Directorate of National Education is a state institution in charge with the planning and coordination of all aspects of educational and training activities in pre-school, primary, secondary and Adult education in Sivas Province.

Feedback from Turkey Meeting 7th-11th May 14

Denise It was really great to meet all of you, I thoroughly enjoyed myself in Turkey, made a lot of good connections and was able to learn from each of you. Thank you for making the time so enjoyable and I look forward to seeing you all in the near future.

Good luck getting back to normality, I think I’m already missing sleeping with the key in the door at Fatih Otel 🙂 Joan

Just want to say thank you Moreen for including me on your project and to thank you, Aysha, Bob, Carlene , Dave, Denise and Rosemary for your enjoyable company – ( have to include you Bob!).Also to thank you all for taking care of me

DavidEven though we were only away a few days, it seems strange getting back to normality and i think i’m really going to miss you all.Thanks to everyone for putting up with my odd sense of humour and a very big thanks to Moreen for the invitation and all of your hard work. Here’s to Poland. See you all soon I hope.

Here’s the Reports on Evaluations of Hatfield, Romania and Turkey Meetings.

David.B
“I thought our trip to Romania was enjoyable and thought provoking, the structure of the Itinerary insured that we got to see both the best and worst of the Romania. I felt that the people of Romania are doing their best to move on from their past, whilst managing their present and preparing for a much better future. The past has left some deep rooted scars and left much of the economy underdeveloped, however I was impressed and the effort that has had been to overcome this and establish a modernised and prosperous society.

The application of the school teachers seemed to be more than just a desire to teach. The teachers were key members of their community and it appeared that their relationship with their students was more than just academic. I felt this translated in the performance of the students who I felt were willing participants in the events and shows we witnessed. Although the infrastructure of many school buildings has yet to be improved it’s clear that there is plenty of potential there children to grow a flourish.
“I thought our trip to Romania was enjoyable and thought provoking, the structure of the Itinerary insured that we got to see both the best and worst of the Romania.

The elements of Romania that impressed me most were the Culture, Education, Project & EducationCulture
I felt the society of Romania was one of where age and position is respected. I saw this with the teaching professionals who we engaged with it showed me that titles were important and denote respect. Older people were viewed as wise as they had experience and respect and it appeared that they were responsible for most of the decisions in the home and at work. The society is still predominantly male dominated but that does appear to be changing, as Women take a much more prominent role in senior positions and decision making. I felt that the people of Romania were naturally friendly and welcoming. Despite some communities being undeveloped and lacking empowerment there is a warmth and friendliness that compensates for the lack of resources.Project

The Romanian’s are doing the best to move their side of the project forward although they perhaps lack the resources to get things moving forward quickly. There is a definite need for more social inclusion in the society and it’s slowly being addressed. However it must be difficult for the older population to transition from a communist regime to one of democracy and freedom. The population is young and vibrant, and technology is enabling Romanians to connect with the world.
I feel that Romania could grow to be one of the most culturally abundant cities
in Europe like any country it has its issues but the good points far out weight
the bad.

Jenny Rand Kaleidoscope Enterprise.”Organisation of the trip/visit to Bucharest
“The trip was well organised and I appreciated the opportunity to see Bucharest at the beginning and end of our visit. The city looked at peace, reasonably affluent and pleasant. We visited “the old quarter” where lots of people were eating out in busy restaurants.
I had read about street children around the Gare du Nord, who live in great poverty, sometimes below ground but they were not visible when I visited though police were, so they may have been ?sent away/hidden so as not to deter tourists. We were also invited to the Irish Consulate which was interesting. They have clearly supported social inclusion in the north of Ireland by a range of initiatives, where the other UK partner hailed from.Visit to Alexandia and Teleorman County
We had a very well organised visit to Alexandria and to the village of Buzescu and the town of Rosiorii de Vede. All the planning worked smoothly. Our hosts were very welcoming. I thought they showed us many instances of social inclusion, including particularly the special needs school and Buzescu where the Roma school children were well integrated in the local school. I enjoyed also both meals out showing us local venues including dancing.
I liked the flat green countryside though one could see many people working manually in the fields.
I think the hosts and other teams enjoyed the diversity of the UK group.
I learnt a lot that was new and I believe that this Kaleidoscope-led project will be beneficial in all the countries where it will take place. I thought our Romanian hosts showed a broad and interesting picture of their town and district.
In terms of taking the project forward, I am happy to participate and help with the September event or as a trainee on another project as Moreen thinks appropriate”

Josie O’Driscoll

In my opinion the Romanians could teach us a thing or two about social inclusion although this is one example of good practice I did see Roma begging and aggressively selling in a market in Bucharest .
Before visiting Romania I had this preconceived idea of a third world country I was pleasantly surprised to see a bustling and thriving capital city .The Romanian hosts had this trip well planned and organised. Everything was on hand from transport to translators to amounts of food that you couldn’t eat in a month washed down by their local alcohol in beautiful venues , I was overwhelmed by the hospitality shown by them . Our days were filled with meetings , workshops or events to attend , an annual town festival in Rosiorii to a town hall visit to greet The Lord Mayor in Alexandria , a visit to a school for disadvantaged children and onto a hostel for victims of domestic violence and the homeless , now this was where community mentoring could be implemented although the residents were being supported by nurses and there were doctors on call all there meals were being cooked by a chef so there wasn’t much for them to do all day I believe they would progress quite well by life skills training and empowerment from a mentor which would help them to lead more independent lives I am looking forward to seeing the outcomes of this worthwhile project.

_____________________________________________________Posted:17Mar14

Slovakia Partner, OZ Zips. Articles – Come 4 Inclusions

Civic organization OZ ZIPS in Romania (Translation by Filip, OZ ZIPS)
The Spišská Nová Ves civic organization OZ ZIPS took part on the second international meeting , as a part of the European granted project European Community Mentoring Partnership. This meeting was organized in a Romanian town, Alexandria – home of the project partner Teleorman Regional School Department. On behalf of OZ ZIPS this meeting was attended by Mgr. art. Tomáš Cetera, Ing. Martin Kočiš a Bc.
Filip Kudláček. Besides them OZ ZIPS invited to the project , in position of a mentor, the child psychologist Mgr. Martin Boroš, at present working in the Center of a special – pedagogical support by a Special Basic School in Spišská Nová Ves. His aim is social integration as well as optimal personal development of disadvantaged children especially with different health issues by using a complex of psychological, diagnostic, rehabilitation, preventive, methodic and other services. . His expert comments, consultations and constructive polemics about integration and work with people with speacial needs where a great help to understand the issue.
From the rich and varied, professionally organized program would be appropriate to highlight the visit Roma school in the village Buzica . Since the topic is high on the agenda in the context of our region, it was interesting to see how the local Roma have undertaken themselves to solve the problems of their ethnicity and their own means. For the purpose of more intensive approach to the Roma minority as such, with its subjective specifics, the local School decided to recruit teachers from among the Roma themselves. These have functionally applied their teaching skills to work with Roma children , with accent on their cultural heritage and awareness uniqueness of their own identity. In accordance with this spirit was performed a cultural program by students lead by these teachers. The upcoming third meeting is planned on September this year and will take place in Turkey. In February 2015, the penultimate meeting of the mentioned project will be in our city Spišská Nová Ves. OZ ZIPS will welcome representatives from participating partner organizations from the Great Britain, Romania , Northern Ireland and Turkey.

Kaleidoscope is co-ordinating this EU Lifelong Learning project, which shares experiences of running informal adult learning and training, and looks at how the community mentoring model could be used to improve outcomes. The other partners include a Northern Irish Women’s Centre, a Romanian regional authority, a Romanian professional association, a Turkish educational authority and a Slovakian youth project.

Congratulations to Kaleidoscope who are taking part in EU-funded projects for the first time.

Kaleidoscope Enterprise Ltd is a charity offering support to community groups, particularly concerning race, ethnicity, culture and discrimination.

They welcomed partners of the “Community Mentoring for Social Inclusion Partnership” project to Hatfield for a three-day working meeting this month.

Kaleidoscope is co-ordinating this EU Lifelong Learning project, which shares experiences of running informal adult learning and training, and looks at how the community mentoring model could be used to improve outcomes. The other partners include a Northern Irish Women’s Centre, a Romanian regional authority, a Romanian professional association, a Turkish educational authority and a Slovakian youth project.

A dynamic learning partnership of adult education providers, seeking to more effectively engage socially disadvantaged members of communities through the development of best practice in creating and running community mentoring training schemes .

Partner organisations will:

1. share and compare organisational definitions, learning opportunities, methods and good practice for engaging socially disadvantaged adults especially those from ethnic minorities, migrant groups and poor women through partner meetings, visits to community organisations/projects representing such people and creating opportunities for them to participate in transnational trips

3. develop good practice guidance and teaching materials to attract and train individuals wishing to become community mentors in partner countries and actively involve individuals from vulnerable social groups in these processes

4. promote awareness of the learning partnership and EU learning opportunities in their countries alongside their existing programmes to encourage interest and involvement from the local community in exchanges and visits

5. create questionnaires and surveys to measure the impact of the partnership in all the above areas as they progress

The partnership intends to demonstrate the importance of bringing together different types of organisation, large and small, to create new learning communities as responses to common European problems and challenges faced in communities; it intends to highlight that “disadvantaged people and communities” will respond to effective partnership approaches to these challenges. The partnership will also address the need to challenge prejudices and negative stereotypes behind concepts such as “socially disadvantaged” in the area of lifelong learning .

Each partner will lead on the fulfillment of a specific objective which relates to their core competence or strength and the human resources available to them. Each partner will also “buddy and mentor” another organisation’s capacity in those skills.

“Community Mentoring for Social Inclusion European Partnership welcomes representatives from: Romania, Slovakia, Turkey and Northern Ireland to Hatfield 20 – 22 November 2013!” KEL will be hosting the partnership’s first face-to-face project planning meeting in Hatfield, thanks to support from Councillor Maureen Cook’s Locality Budget. We are keen for the visitors to meet and visit people and places of interest involved in the local community and voluntary sector. If you would like to support this initiative, please get in touch with the Project Manager, Moreen Pascal on 01707 695519 or email: moreen@kaleidoscopeenterprise.org.uk” EU Lifelong Learning Programme Projects

We are delighted to be participating for the first time in two EU funded projects under the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning programme). Through these projects we will work with a diversity of European not-for-profit partners to share knowledge / experiences and new ways of working over a two-year period (2013 – 2015).

Apart from the specific goals and objectives of the projects, Kaleidoscope Enterprise’s internal objectives for initiating these EU projects include:

1. Create potential for Kaleidoscope and other non-profits here and in the EU to work as partners in future EU funding opportunities

2. Increase awareness and use of other sources of funding to implement our ideas and values

3. Upskill and empower the charity to act as equal partners to bigger organisations in areas of our expertise

4. Be the stepping stone for members of the community, volunteers and staff to experience what the EU has to offer

OZ ZIPS, the Slovakian partner of the Come4Inclusion Project, published in a regional magazine an article concerning the first meeting of the project, which took place in Hatfield (UK), in the period 20-22 November 2013. The article talks about the project focused on adult education, about the first meeting and the future cooperation between the involved countries.

In the period 20-22 November 2013, the project partners met in Hatfield, United Kingdom, the meeting being organized by Kaleidoscope Enterprise, the coordinator of Come4Inclusion Project. This first meeting was a great opportunity for the project partners to interact with each other and to discuss about the aims, the objectives and the work plan of the project. The Community Mentoring for Social Inclusion partnership is a diverse mix of community groups, regional education public authorities, adult education providers and a professional association from the UK, Slovakia, Turkey and Romania. All partners are involved in widening access to training and education to those considered socially disadvantaged in their respective countries, in order to assist these communities in improving their knowledge and competences to climb out of poverty or unemployment.